Hodge Podge... It Is Key

I'm joining Hodge Podge Wednesday for the first time today.  Looks like fun.  We shall see! 


 1. What would you say is the key to success?

I'd say that it is different for everyone.  For me?  I'll let you know when I figure that out.

 2. Have you ever been to the Florida Keys? Any desire to visit that part of the US of A?

Yes, I have been to the Keys.  I used to live in Miami, Florida, and the keys are just a hop, skip and a jump from there.

 3. When and where did you last see a real live donkey? Monkey? Turkey?

Donkey?  I don't remember.
Monkey?  The last time I was at the zoo, about 8 months or so ago.
Turkey?  A wild flock in a field, just a few days ago.

Have YOU ever seen a Zonkey?  They are real!  This friendly girl lives in the Searcy, Arkansas area.

 4. An old Portuguese proverb says, 'Beware of the door with too many keys.' What do you think this means? Share an example of how this has proven true or false in your own life.

The more people who have access, the less safe the treasure.  Suffice it to say, it has proven true. 

5. Besides your home, vehicle, and special jewelry, what is something you keep under lock and key?

Our storage/tool shed.

6. When did you last get keyed up about something?

Monday (2 days ago).  I got really excited about a project I am working on and my mind just would not let me relax.

7. Who thinks we need an easy one right about now?  Key lime pie...yes please or no thank you?

Oh, yes!  Love the real stuff!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

My husband and I are watching the television series Lark Rise to Candleford (based on a book by the same name) for the second time.  The character Minnie shows up in the second season as the new maid in the post office, replacing the maid who had served there for decades. 

Minnie is quite young, very inexperienced, and woefully absent-minded.  She does not know how to cook or properly clean, and she day-dreams at the most inopportune times.  She's a bumbling mess with whom everyone in the post office gets very, very frustrated.  At the end of the first episode in which we meet Minnie, she ruins the wedding dress that the postmistress (Dorcas Lane) has kept as a treasured heirloom, hoping beyond hope that she will one day wear it herself. 

Miss Lane calls Minnie to her, furious and crying, to tell her that she is not at all equipped to do the job for which she is hired and that she might just be hopeless.  Minnie would be headed to the workhouse or worse if Miss Lane turned her out. 

But then Miss Lane says to her that she will teach her, and she will never be thrown out to be lost.  The post office would be Minnie's home for as long as she wants it.   Minnie runs from the room, in tears, but with the biggest smile that her face will allow.  She knows she is "worthless" but she now also knows that she is loved.

This whole scene reminds me of the scripture that tells us that God chastens those whom He loves.  Miss Lane freely gave Minnie a home knowing that she, Minnie, had nothing to offer, much as God freely gives us salvation.  How often have I been broken by my own worthlessness, been chastened by God, but having a lightness that only comes from knowing that I am loved deeply enough by the Creator of the universe that He will not leave me in such a state.

It is the BEST feeling in this life!